The Weekend | The Prae Wood Arms

26 Apr 2018

Late Friday afternoon (of which I don’t work in case you think I was just having a cheeky skive), I got back from perusing the French market in town (lol could I sound anymore ridiculously middle class) with a slice of custard pie in my hand. Dunno how it got there, just fell in ffs.

The weather was a bit of alright wasn’t it? Sure the temps have dropped again but the little preview of the summer months was a joy after several weeks of greyness. I sat myself in my usual café Friday lunchtime and it was practically empty which, in my eyes, is another perk of the sunshine. After an only-mildly-inspired writing sesh, I just wandered around town for a bit as I figured my skin was probably due some Vit D. And that’s when I noticed the French market and custard pie…

I sat on the terrace for the rest of the afternoon, half novel-writing, half writing a blog post about Singapore, but mostly debating whether we should stay in or go to the pub for the evening. I think we might go to the pub too much but also hello perfect beer garden weather.

Anyway, we were all sensible and didn’t go to the pub but I did make us this Bucatini dish for dinner which we enjoyed with a fruit cider and some of that sexy sunshine. And then I watched One Born Every Minute with the custard pie cos that’s just how I roll. We also browsed houses on right move; this week we’re moving to Cambridgeshire if you’re interested.

So that was pretty much Friday.

(Oh and I also ranted approx. 5 times about the weight loss and ‘wedding diet’ adverts that keep popping up on my social media. Fuck off please and thank you.)

On Saturday, we decided we should take advantage of the little preview of summer and go check out The Prae Wood Arms; one of the places on our St Albans-food-bucket-list. And we felt totally justified in doing so because we hadn’t gone to the pub the night before and we’d both been for a run in the morning *insert irritating smug face*.

SO, The Prae Wood Arms? Totally dreamy. Would v much recommend.

It’s about one and a half miles outside the centre of town and can be walked within half an hour or 45 minutes if you fancy going the slightly more picturesque route. We chose the latter and wandered through the park and into the countryside late afternoon. Aside from the weather suddenly turning drizzly and my shoes-that-I’ve-owned-for-a-year suddenly deciding to rub and soaking the back of my socks on blood (that sounds v dramatic… it was a small circle of blood…), it was a lovely walk. You really feel like you’re out in the heart of the countryside with the rolling fields, tree-lined pathways and slightly-swampy river. And there’s a huge pub waiting for you. What’s not to like?

The Prae Wood Arms was originally built for Lady Frances Cooke Crimston in 1838 and she referred
to it as her ‘little cottage’. These days, we’d refer to it as a mansion so there you go. The garden has a big terrace and a massive sweeping lawn which is surrounded by the river and trees; which create pretty light patterns on the grass as the sun sets behind them.

Inside is full of character; antique fireplaces, upholstered armchairs, a grand staircase, little nooks and crannies alongside big light rooms and maybe one of the best stocked bars I’ve ever seen? Even the toilets were cool and quirky.

Anyway, yeah, we very much liked the place and spent a good few hours drinking in the garden whilst chomping our way through their extensive crisp selection. Also a very middle class crisp selection. Wild thyme and rosemary flavour anyone? Wissington tomato? We so fancy. We also had a spot of dinner and I can confirm that the feta burger is all sorts of sexy.

There was a great atmosphere about the place. It is very family friendly so you do have to take in all the joy with the shrieks of children but that lawn was just crying out for kids to be running around it so one can’t complain.

We migrated inside as it got cooler and eventually walked back home in the muggy night (via an M&S garage for breakfast supplies). It was a grand evening.

Sunday was being subconsciously influenced by the London marathon and going for a run for the second day in a row. Not sure who I am anymore tbh. I also made a wedding to-do list (which seems to be surprisingly long considering most of the day’s plans are ‘go to pub’) and may or may not have had a peppermint milkshake from The Shaken Cow.

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Kate

A curious daydreamer in search of adventure and a good photo. Usually found googling travel destinations and trying to find the motivation to write my novel. Currently living in St Albans. Thanks for popping by, I hope you brought snacks.